Kiara Maniar
ABSTRACT
Despite decades of educational reforms, India’s schools still face significant resource deficits that hinder student outcomes. Forty percent of schools lack electricity, 30 percent adequate sanitation, 80 percent computers, and 95 percent internet services. Existing policies have not fully bridged these gaps, necessitating a deeper analysis of how various school resources impact critical educational outcomes. This study seeks to address these issues and provide targeted insights for policy improvements. It analyses the impact of 14 explanatory variables on 4 proxies of educational outcomes: enrolment, retention, learning outcomes, and equity in the 35 States and Union Territories from 2017 to 2020. State and Union Territory level differences have been considered. The study employs a random effects model for each of the four analyses, factoring in a total of 4260 observation points.
The findings reveal that governance processes regarding transparency and accountability improve retention and equity in the educational system, while technology negatively impacts enrolment and learning outcomes. The role of playgrounds and physical facilities is to be carefully assessed as they have positive and negative impacts on different dependent variables. It’s essential to improve the supplementary reading materials, supply of functional electricity, and furniture to improve the learning outcomes while rainwater harvesting has a significant positive impact on enrolment. The evolving and multifaceted nature of education systems underscores the need for this study - a more holistic approach to studying education, considering a variety of factors. The research provides valuable insights for policymakers to address all aspects of education in India.
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